One thing you can count on with the Detroit Lions is that they are never, ever boring. Follow the latest news including injuries, roster moves and more here daily from Oakland Press beat writer Paula Pasche. Plus you'll find regular commentary about the team.

2/19/2009

Combine coverage: Schwartz on Kitna

Lions coach Jim Schwartz said no decision has been made on whether to pay Jon Kitna the $1-million bonus he's due next month, but he also said the veteran quarterback is expected to be around to take part in the team's offseason program.

You guys keep on putting the cart before the horse, Schwartz said at the NFL Scouting Combine Thursday. You're wanting to know if we promised the starting position to (Dante) Culpepper. From my standpoint it's like, jeez, could anything be a worse decision then promising a player that I've never seen practice, that I have no sort of relationship, promising somebody a starting position? We need guys to compete.

Asked if he'd be willing to pay Kitna's bonus, due the fifth day of the league year, in order to keep Kitna in the quarterback mix, Schwartz said, Yeah. Let's put it this way: I'd like to keep as many options open as we could.

FYI, his base salary also escalates from $1.95M to $2.95M, assuming that the criteria was the same as for the roster bonus. In addition, he has a $1M NLTBE incentive built into his contract. If that gets re-classified to LTBE (like it did last year), it will also count against the cap.

About Me

Paula Pasche, a veteran sports writer, covers the Lions for The Oakland Press. She has written a book, "100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" which is available at bookstores and on Amazon.com. She won first place for column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists in Detroit (Class B) in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and was The Oakland Press 2010 Staffer of the Year.